AIPAC Loses Yet Another House Race It Poured Millions of Dollars Into
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AIPAC has lost yet another race into which it poured millions of dollars on Thursday after California state Sen. Aisha Wahab won her special election to serve out the rest of Eric Swalwell’s term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Associated Press called the race on Thursday evening for Wahab, who received 53 percent of the vote compared to Democratic opponent Melissa Hernandez’s 47 percent. Wahab is the first Afghan American ever elected to the U.S. Congress, and was the first Muslim woman elected to the California legislature.
Wahab is slated to serve out the rest of Swalwell’s term, which ends in January, after he resigned over sexual assault allegations made against him. She will represent a swath of the Bay Area, and will face off against Hernandez again in the general election in November for a full term.
AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project (UDP), poured $2.5 million into opposing Wahab and backing Hernandez, the New York Times reports, much of it in the final weeks of the race.
The spending has been somewhat puzzling, baffling even pro-Israel leaders in the state who question why the lobbying powerhouse would spend so much on a race that, unlike many others this election cycle, has not........
